* * *
Cailean knew that he might die here. He and his five warriors were doing a decent job of keeping the ambushers back, but he knew they could not hold against twenty men indefinitely. He just hoped that Maeve and Darren had enough time to escape before?—
"Attack!" Maeve's voice yelled out, and Cailean spun to see her charging forward with ten men at her back, each brandishing a weapon. The sight of her and the reinforcements spurred Cailean and the other warriors on, and he felt a surge of renewed strength as he fought off the next blow from a Darach soldier.
Suddenly, the tides were turned as Maeve and her mysterious men joined the fray, and the rebels pushed forward, killing where they had to and disabling when they didn't. None of them liked to end a life unless it was absolutely necessary. When the last Darach man was incapacitated, Cailean wiped his sword on his shirt and took a deep breath. Maeve ran to him, and for a moment, they just stared at one another.
"Are ye hurt?" she asked anxiously. "I'm sorry it took so long."
"Where did ye even come from? Who are these men?" Cailean asked her. "I thought ye were goin' with Darren…"
Maeve briefly explained how she'd detoured to the dungeons and been able to free Eoin and several prisoners who were sympathetic to or even enthusiastic about their cause. She explained that she'd sent Eoin and several others ahead to make it easier for the full-frontal attack portion of the rebel army to arrive. Cailean felt a swelling of pride and love in his heart for this reckless, foolhardy, incredibly brave woman.
"Ye were supposed tae get tae safety," he admitted.
She shrugged. "None of us are safe. Nae 'til Kyle Darach is dead."
The chatter between the warriors died down and all faces turned to Cailean and Maeve as both sets of warriors awaited their next course of action. Before either could speak, though, the soft sound of sobbing echoed through the stone corridor, rising above the groaning of the few still-alive but incapacitated Darach soldiers.
It was the girl, Sadie, crouched in a corner and crying her eyes out. Cailean was overwhelmed with complex emotion as he looked at her — a White Sparrow who had betrayed them and led them into a trap, yes, but also a young woman, barely more than a girl, who was clearly scared out of her mind. What had gotten her in such a state? The Sparrows could endure all sorts of torture, but something had broken her.
Maeve walked over to the girl and crouched down to her level. "Sadie. Look at me," she said.
Sadie looked up, tears streaming down her face. "I'm sorry," she wept. "I'm so sorry. I'm so glad ye survived, I… I didnae ken what else tae do. They already killed me mother and me wee brother. Da's trapped in the dungeons, I…"
"Yer father is free," Maeve told her gently.
Sadie gaped at her. "He is? But… how…?!"
One of the newcomers confirmed the news, and Sadie's face crumpled in a mixture of relief and horror.
"I betrayed ye," she whispered. "Will ye kill me? Take me prisoner? I'll nae resist, so long as me Da is safe."
Cailean felt all eyes on him, and realized suddenly that the judgement was to be his. He knew that if he was to be a ruler, he had to be decisive and swift with justice, and what Sadie had done could have easily killed them all. But he met Maeve's eyes and saw that she, too, was seeing the complexities of what this girl had gone through — what they had all gone through.
"The Sparrows will clip yer wings, Sadie. Ye can never return tae them," he told her. He knew that, though loving, Morag would never accept a traitor into her network. They simply couldn't afford the risk.
"I ken," the girl said quietly. "I deserve that and more."
"Go. Find yer father, and flee. Get far from here. Go tae another clan, or even down south tae England or across the water tae the Emerald Isle. Change yer name if ye must. Do whatever it takes tae find a new life." Cailean spoke the words, and as he did, he felt that it was right. "Go find yer peace, Sadie."
"Ye… ye're lettin' me go?" she asked breathlessly.
Maeve put a hand on her shoulder. "He's givin' ye a second chance," she told the girl. "We rebels, we all ken what it's like tae need one. Dinnae waste yers."
"I willnae," the girl said. "I promise."
Maeve gave her instructions to follow along the wall markings to find her way out of the castle, knowing that they'd come too far in the dark for everyone to remember the exact path back through the labyrinth. Cailean knew some of his men would have memorized it well, but he was proud of her for giving the clarification. Now he looked around at the gathered rebels. He expected to see disapproval there or even dissent, but instead, he saw admiration and even some smiles. He caught Fergus's eye, and Fergus gave him a tiny nod.
Sadie stopped just before she could disappear down the corridor. "I… if ye're lookin' for Kyle, I ken where ye can find him," she told them. "He's in Malcolm's old chambers. He's already waitin' for ye tae be brought there as prisoners. There's more and more men fillin' the way from here tae there."
Maeve looked victorious at the news. "Luckily," she said, "I ken a way in."
* * *
Often, during their marriage, Malcolm would summon Maeve to his bedchambers. She soon realized that it was only for appearances' sake, and he would send her out again through a little side door that led into a servant's passage to the kitchens soon after. She supposed it was so that nobody would see her leave.
That little side door now proved to be their salvation. All the soldiers in the castle were dedicated to guarding the way to the chieftain's chambers, but nobody was watching the kitchens. After all, what did the mighty Kyle Darach care for servants? And so it was a simple enough job for Maeve to lead the rebels, including the men who had joined them, through the corridors she'd grown to know so well without alerting a soul.
